A Bittersweet Season: Caring for Our Aging Parents—And Ourselves

When Jane Gross—a longtime New York Times expert on the subject of elder care—suddenly became caretaker for her 85-year-old mother, she was forced to face challenges that even she had never imagined. As she struggled, along with her brother, to move her mother into an assisted living facility, deal with seemingly never-ending costs, and adapt to the demands on her time and psyche, she learned—and shares here—valuable lessons that she wishes she had known earlier. We learn why finding a general practitioner with a specialty in geriatrics should be our first move when relocating a parent; how to deal with Medicaid and Medicare; and how to understand and provide for our own needs as caretakers.

"Nothing can fully prepare you for the overwhelming experience of caring for your elderly parents, but Jane Gross's new book … comes close…. Gross is an incisive critic of our systems and institutions."—Seattle Times

"Unique and lovely…. How wonderful to have [Gross's] mix of sage advice, pithy insights and practical discoveries at hand."—Abraham Verghese